Author Information

John Moore grew up in the foothills of Western North
Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina at
Asheville, where he received his bachelor’s degree in
chemistry. He earned his master’s degree in chemistry from
Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. After a stint in
the United States Army, he decided to try his hand at teaching. In
1971, he joined the chemistry faculty of Stephen F. Austin State
University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he still teaches chemistry.
In 1985 he started back to school part time and in 1991 received
his doctorate in education from Texas A&M University. For the
last five years has been the co-editor (along with one of his
former students) of the “Chemistry for Kids” feature of
The Journal of Chemical Education. In 2003, his first book,
Chemistry For Dummies, was published, soon to be followed by
Chemistry Made Simple. John enjoys cooking and making custom
knife handles from exotic woods.

Richard Langley grew up in southwestern Ohio. He attended
Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he received
bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and mineralogy and then a
master’s degree in chemistry. His next stop was the
University of Nebraska, where he received his doctorate in
chemistry. Afterwards, he took a postdoctoral position at Arizona
State University in Tempe, Arizona, followed by a visiting
assistant professor position at the University of Wisconsin at
River Falls. In 1982, he moved to Stephen F. Austin State
University. For the past several years, he and John have been
graders for the Free Response portion of the AP Chemistry Exam. He
and John have collaborated on several writing projects, including
5 Steps To A 5 on the AP: Chemistry and Chemistry for the
Utterly Confused. Rich enjoys jewelry making and science
fiction.